The idea for the exhibit began in 1995 at the annual planning meeting of the
Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women. The Alliance, one of the largest
committees of the Association with over 500 members, addresses issues of
significance to women in the profession and the larger community. Inspired
by an event of the Allegheny County Bar Association that celebrated the
history of women lawyers in Pennsylvania, the Alliance determined to
celebrate the 125th anniversary of women in Illinois bar occurring in 1998.
The Chicago Public Library joined in partnership with the Alliance, offering
the expertise of their Special Collections and Preservation Division staff
to assist in the planning and culmination of the exhibit.

From Left to right: Gwen Hoerr McNamee and Honorable Elaine Bucklo, co-chairs of the Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women 125th Anniversary Project

The Research

Spearheaded by the Alliance's 125th Anniversary Project Committee, the research for
the exhibit was conducted by Alliance members and other lawyers, law
students, and historians throughout the state. The research focused on the
first 100 women lawyers, as they comprised the pathbreakers who forged a
place for women in the otherwise male profession. Admitted during the years
1873 to 1901, with some practicing law into the 1940s, these women advanced
many of the changes that occurred in the legal profession and society during
the decades before and after the turn of the twentieth century. Though the
lives and work of many of Illinois' first 100 women lawyers had been all but
erased from history, the researchers found that information on a significant
number of these women does survive, scattered throughout the country in the
collections of local historical societies, school and public libraries,
court archives and in the attics of a few descendants. Over the three-year
research period, the work of the individual researchers was enhanced by
contextual insights shared by history professors from the University of
Illinois at Chicago and independent scholars from the Chicago Area Women's
History Conference as well as members of the Women in History Group of the
University of Illinois at Chicago.

The Items

Through the generosity of many institutions and individuals, the exhibit included over 100 items from over thirty lenders, each telling an important part of the story of the lives and influence of these women. Items included handwritten documents from women lawyers, reported court decisions, published legal articles and law journals, agency reports and political advertisements. Photographs of the women lawyers, men who mentored and supported them, and important relevant buildings and locations were also included. Articles of clothing, including dresses, suits and hats authentic
to the time period as well as one complete Victorian outfit (including
dress, shawl, hat, shoes, purse and gloves) which had belonged to one of the
more prominent early woman lawyers of Illinois further enhanced the exhibit.

The Opening

The Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Public Library jointly hosted a preview reception the night prior to the public opening of the exhibit. The event, attended by over 400 men and women, included a keynote address by the
former (and first female) Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Kim
Campbell.

From left to right: The Right Honourable Kim
Campbell, CBA President Patricia C. Bobb, Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey, and Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine.

The Book

Simultaneous with the exhibit, the Chicago Bar Association Alliance for
Women published a book, Bar None: 125 Years of Women Lawyers in Illinois.
Organized upon the same outline as the exhibit, the text of the book
comprises individual biographical sketches of thirty-six of the first 100
women lawyers in Illinois, as well as additional articles shedding further
light on the context of women's early law practice. The book is available
for purchase through the CBA Bookstore. Click here for more information.

From left to right: Gwen McNamee, editor of Bar None, Karen Clanton and Patricia McMillen, both contributing authors and copy editors for Bar None, with a bust of Myra Bradwell.

American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession, Bently
Historical Library University of Michigan, William Broom and the Mable M.
Broom Collection, Calumet Career
Preparation Academy, The Chicago Bar Association, Chicago
Historical Society, Chicago Public Library,
Chicago Tribune, Collection of the Supreme Court of the
United States, Cook County Law Library,
Effingham Historical Society, Gaslight Collection of Dan
and Nancy Mattausch, Illinois Appellate
Court, Third District, Illinois State Historical Library,
Illinois State Archives, John Marshall Law
School Library, Keith Letsche, Lombard Historical Society,
National Association of Women Lawyers,
Northwestern University School of Law, Sarah Rehtmeyer,
Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College,
Caroline Sexauer, Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College,
State Historical Society of Iowa,
Swindler's Ridge Museum Benton Wisconsin, University of
Illinois at Chicago The University Library
Department of Special Collections, University of Illinois
Law Library, Western Illinois University
Library, Wilmette Historical Museum, and Women's Bar
Association of Illinois